20% of high street post offices face closure

THE Post Office plans to close one in five of its main high street branches and reopen them in shops.

One in five of the Post Office's main high street branches and reopen them in shops

The company wants to claw back the £40million it loses a year and is seeking retail partners for 70 of its 373 Crown Post Offices.

In recent years a number have closed and transferred to WH Smith and Co–op stores.

No compulsory redundancies are planned, the Post Office said. It wants to link up with national businesses or independent firms but if deals are not struck the branches will remain.

Communication Workers Union general secretary Billy Hayes said staff would "be in shock"

No compulsory redundancies are planned with the closures, the Post Office said

These offices provide a dedicated specialist service to communities which will not be replicated by a window or two in a bigger shop

Billy Hayes

"This move will have a huge impact on the high streets of small towns earmarked to lose their Crown Post Office," he said. "These offices provide a dedicated specialist service to communities which will not be replicated by a window or two in a bigger shop."

He added: "How can the Post Office realistically deliver services for passport applications, identity services and a range of financial services while being pruned back?"

The Post Office said: "Crown branches are a fundamental part of our long–term growth strategy and need to be brought into profit." Robert Hammond, of Consumer Focus, said: "These are part of the biggest ever programme of change and consumers will want to see services that are high quality and accessible and offer the products and services they need.

"This is more important than the issue of who operates the Post Office itself."